Carlyle in talks for Rs 500 crore stake in Feedback Infra

MUMBAI/BANGALORE: Private equity giant Carlyle Group is discussing a Rs 500-crore investment in Feedback Infra, which could make the US firm a major shareholder in the Gurgaon-based infrastructure services company, sources directly familiar with the matter said.

Carlyle’s growth equity arm has been prospecting a deal which may include a secondary share purchase from some existing investors.

The three together hold over 50% in Feedback Infra, whose latest turnover is not known. In 2012, Feedback Infra clocked a turnover of Rs 250 crore.

The 25-year-old Feedback Infra offers consulting and operations and management services to energy, transportation and real estate sectors, competing with units of IL&FS and Crisil.

“The board has given a mandate to raise about Rs 500 crore to feed growth needs for the next five years. We are in talks with private equity investors, including Carlyle. The valuation and the final amount are yet to be decided,” Feedback Infra chairman Vinayak Chatterjee, 56, said in response to a query.

Carlyle declined to comment on market speculation. Mahesh Singhi, MD, Singhi Advisors, a boutique investment bank in Mumbai, said, “There’s an opportunity for this company to have a larger play in the infrastructure project management space. They have an experienced team which is well poised to make this transition as infrastructure spending picks up momentum once again.” The government has decided to triple spending on roads and highways. Already, expenditure in the April-August period hit of $350 billion this year.

Feedback Infra has been focusing on international expansion and fresh funds would further enable that. It plans to garner 40% of revenues from international operations by the end of the decade.

At present, it operates in the Indian subcontinent, South East Asia, East Africa and Middle East. The firm had recently acquired Dubai Consultants — an architecture, engineering and design firm — to strengthen its presence in the UAE.

Chatterjee, along with five partners, founded Feedback Infra, earlier known as Feedback Market Research, in 1990 with a capital of Rs 75,000. After starting as a market research agency, Feedback transformed into a focused infrastructure services provider following Chatterjee’s chance meeting with Deepak Parekh of HDFC. Parekh had suggested that Chatterjee focus on the infrastructure sector that offers immense opportunities.

Subsequently, HDFC also bought into Feedback Infra along with IDFC and L&T Infrastructure Finance.